Physiologically, dogs and other animals are equipped with nails or claws on the ends of their toes or other digits in order to gain traction on various surfaces. This design is useful in many natural settings. However, on harder surfaces the toenails disadvantage the animals due to slippage. This problem is particularly prevalent on the hard surface flooring in homes where animals are often kept as pets. The slipping and lack of traction on these surfaces can result in loss of stability, potential falls and is generally very dangerous to the animal. The problem is compounded when the animal suffers from age or physiological conditions that demand stability and secure traction during forward and backward movement as well as getting up and lying down.
Conventional solutions attempt to address this problem with toenail or paw covers, including sheaths or tubular members that are removably securable about the tip and long mid-portion of an animal's toenail.
For example, US 2013/0256162 to Snyder et al. discloses a toenail grip that includes a tubular member removably securable via frictional interference to the nail of the animal for increasing traction. The tubular member is constructed of a flexible, returnably-resilient material having non-slip or gripping characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,962,731 to Wexler discloses an animal toe nail cover having an elongated sheath for animal toe nails. The elongated sheath has a cavity extending throughout the length of the sheath defining a telescopic relation over an animal toe nail encasing. The cavity has a first open end, an edge having means for engaging against a side wall of an animal toe nail, and a second closed tip end. The device is designed to slip off of surfaces in order to protect drapes, furniture, skin and the like from nail scratches.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,703,419 to Wexler discloses an animal toe nail covering that utilizes a double dip polymeric manufacturing process to produce a layered cap, each layer being capable of having a different durometer, thickness or color than that of the adjacent layer. The cap may also contain a series of internal cleats to help secure the cap to the animal's toenail. Various adhesive methods, some of which are included in the manufacturing process, are also disclosed for adhering the nail cap to the animal's toenail. The device is designed to slip off of surfaces in order to protect drapes, furniture, skin and the like from nail scratches.
While devices such as is disclosed in 2013/0256162 have been known to provide some enhanced gripping affect, they still prevent significant drawbacks in terms of insufficient contact surface area, gripping features and longevity due to inferior structural design. These tubular designs also easily slip off during use. Moreover, the toenail sheath structure of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,962,731 and 7,703,419 is designed to slip on surfaces. These devices merely mimic the shape of the toenail without providing sufficient contact surface area and easily fail off during use. The conventional devices provide nearly no benefit under wet conditions as the surfaces of the devices themselves are prone to slippage under these conditions. The conventional devices also do not provide any solution to medical conditions resulting in inverted dragging of the nail.
Thus, there is and long has been a substantial need in the medical and pet industry for a device that ensures safe and effective traction for animals, and particularly animals with physiological disadvantages resulting from, for example, age and neurological conditions.
It is an object of the disclosed embodiments to resolve the above problems with conventional devices and provide much improved gripping and traction, durability and longevity.